Outside the sports hall, the snow is piled high and the cold is biting at -10 degrees Celsius (14 Fahrenheit) but inside, Norway's restaurant-sponsored national cricket team is sweating it out at their weekly practice.

Balls whiz through the air as batsmen take turns smashing them on the walls of Oslo's indoor handball arena.

In winter, this is where the 25 members of the national side train, every Tuesday night.

It's also a different world from the action in the Caribbean where the 2007 World Cup is to get underway at the weekend.

Cold, snowy Norway would seem to be an unlikely location for cricket to flourish, but the Scandinavian country has boasted a national side for eight years.

In 2000, the team became a member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and won a six-country tournament for new members.

In 2006, they won the European Championship second division - beating Jersey by 49 runs - and will now play in the top division.

"So far, we have lost only six matches out of 40. As chief selector, I have done my job," Khalid Mahmood, 47, proudly tells AFP.

Similar to Mahmood - the owner of an Indian restaurant - all members of the team have day jobs and play for Norway in their spare time.

"There are quite a few taxi drivers here, three or four of us own restaurants. I run a textile shop," team captain Mohammed Zeeshan Ali, 36, says.

Asian immigrants who have moved to Norway since the mid-1970s are the lifeblood of the sport.

Many of the players were born in Pakistan, seven were born in Norway to Pakistani parents, while two were born in Sri Lanka and one in India.

Players' ages range from 21 to 42.

"The Pakistani immigrants brought their bats and balls with them and played in parks, wherever they could find space," explains Mehtab Afsar, dental student by day, chairman of Norway's cricket board by night.

Gradually local clubs were set up, first in Oslo, then in other cities across Norway.